Corporate power and the capture of the state in post-war Sierra Leone

Join Hussainatu J. Abdullah, a leading Sierra Leonian feminist author, as she discusses the nefarious influence of corporate power in her country’s post-war, post-ebola context.

In this episode, renowned feminist economist Corina Rodríguez Enríquez and international development expert Sue Godt interview Dr Abdullah on public-private partnerships in West Africa.

They delve into Abdullah’s article “Gender Equality, Women’s Rights And Public-Private Partnerships In Sierra Leone’s Agro-Energy Sector: A Case Study Of Addax Bioenergy Sierra Leone (ABSL) Ltd.” The experts examine how PPPs are being portrayed by governments and funders as the new silver bullet for public services and infrastructure projects across the global South. They shed light on the power of the PPP model, and how it is installed in a country and embedded deeply into the system, often resulting in a dangerous process of pauperization of the workforce, amid other detrimental consequences.

What does it take to build the foundation of governance systems and architecture before sustained development can move forward?

This production is part of a series of animated and live-action films created under the project “Old Dog, New Tricks: Neocolonialism & Public-Private Partnerships in the Global South” that highlights the effects of PPPs on women’s lives.